Nursing

Nursing breakthroughs and advances

MODERN NURSING


In the 19th century, nursing was not a recognized profession. This changed when Florence Nightingale (1820-1910) travelled to Turkey to take care of wounded British soldiers during the Crimean War. There were few medicines, and the hospital was filled with rats, fleas and fifth. Nightingale took over, stressing the need for cleanliness and a good diet. As she frequently worked through the night, the soldiers nicknamed her “The Lady of the Lamp”.

Nightingale worked all her life to improve hospital care and in 1860, founded the first nursing school in the world : the Nightingale School for Nurses. Although Florence Nightingale was bedridden for many years, she campaigned tirelessly to improve health standards, publishing 200 books, reports and pamphlets.. Florence Nightingale died at home at the age of 90 on 13 August 1910. Florence Nightingale's farsighted reforms have influenced the nature of modern health care and her writings continue to be a resource for nurses, health managers and planners.

Go to Florence Nightingale Museum at www.florence-nightingale.co.uk/flo2.htm to learn more about her.

To find out more about the evolution of nursing in the US, check out the history of Linda Richards, the nursing pioneer who is recognized as America’s first trained nurse, at www.northnet.org/richards.htm
She worked in America, Great Britain and Japan.

These great stories are inspiring for today’s nurses in the computer technology age. Consider the following:

Begin with nothing to your name
Turning difficulties into opportunities
Acting on brainwaves
Taking calculated risks
Confounding skeptics through sheer foresight and hard work
Against all odds, these great ladies turned her vision into a reality, a testament of courage, diligence and perseverance.

Beginning with Florence Nightingale, today's nurses are not loosing its human touch

inspite of the advanced technology in nursing technique.